Automatic toaster



Nov. 11, 1941; MFIRELAND 2,

7 AUTOMATIC TOASTER Filed Dec. 1, 1959 s sheets-sheet 1 ay INVENTOR ATTORNEY Nov. 11, 1941.

M. IRELAND AUTOMATIC TOASTER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec.

INVENTOR MURRA Y [REL A ND BY m AT Nov. 11, 1941. M. IRELAND AUTOMATIC TOASTER Filed Deb.

'1, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR MURRA' Y/REL AND Patented Nov. 11, 1941 AUTOMATIC TO ASTEB Murray Ireland, near Elgin, lll., asalgnor to McGi-aw Electric Company, Elgin, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application December 1, 1939, Serial No. 307,041

1 Claim.

My invention relates to automatic electric toasters and particularly to means for timing the duration of a toasting operation.

An object of my invention is to provide a relatively simple and efficient structure for a thermal timing device.

Another object of my invention is to provide a thermal timing device of the heat-up cool-01! type operable in a predetermined manner.

Another object of my invention is to provide a relatively simple means in a toaster for preventing guard wire shadow marks on a toasted slice of bread.

Other objects of my invention will either be apparent from a description of one form of device embodying my invention or will be pointed out hereinafter in the specification and more particularly in the appended claim.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation, of an electric toaster having my invention applied there to, a part of this view being taken on the line ll of Fig. 13,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view, in side elevation, showing the position of the detent elements of the timer in holding position at the beginning of a toasting operation,

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the position of the detent elements at an intermediate point of a toasting operation,

Fig. 4 is a view in vertical section through the front of the toaster casing, with parts shown in non-toasting position the same as in Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view, in side elevation,

taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4,

Fig. 6 is a circuit diagram used in matic electric toaster,

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view in side elevation,

of parts of the timer as seen from a point opposite to that from which Fig. 1 is taken, Fig. 8 is a fragmentaryview in side elevation of the same side of thetiming device as shown in Fig. 7 with parts broken away to show the manually controllable elements of the timer as adjusted for a long duration of a toasting operation,

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view in front elevation of a timer speed-controlling knob, as set to obtain a long duration of a toasting operation,

Fig. 10' is a view similar to Fig. 8 but with the parts shown in a minimum-duration'position,

Fig. '11 shows the position of the timer speedadjusting knob corresponding to the position of the parts shown in Fig. 10,

my auto-.

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 8 but parts are shown in tripping position, and,

' Fig. 13 is a fragmentary view in horizontal section taken on the line l3--l3 of Fig. 4.

I have illustrated an automatic; electric toaster designated by the numeral II, which includes a skeleton frame 23 of moulded composition material having secured thereto adjacent its upper face a metal base plate 25 which may be suitably secured in an desired manner to the frame 23. A sheet metal casing ."l includes front, rear and side walls and its open upper end is closed by a cover member 29, all in a manner well known in the art.

I have elected to show my invention as applied to a two-slice toaster although its use is not limited thereto. A two-slice toaster will include two pairs of planar vertically-extending heating elements 3|, one of each of said pairs of heating elements being adapted to have positioned therebetween a slice of bread being toasted. Each heating element 3| includes one or more sheets of electric insulating material 33, such as mica, having a resistor wire or strip 35 mounted thereon, all in a manner well known in the art. The lower ends of the heating units 3| may have interfitting engagement with the base plate 25, while the upper ends thereof may have interiitting and holding engagement with longitudinally extending top frame plates 35, all ina manner well known in the art. The toaster structure includes a front intermediate wall 39 and a rear intermediate wall 4|, these front and rear intermediate walls cooperating with the outermost heating units to provide a toasting chamber'or a plurality thereof within the casing hereinbefore described. The cover member 29 may be provided with one or more bread-inserting apertures 43 in accordance. with the number of slices of bread toastable therein at the same time. It is obvious,-of course, that the top frame plates 31 will also be provided with bread-inserting and toast-removing slots registering with the slots 43 in the cover 28. Guard or guide wires 5 may be suspended from the top frame plates, all in a manner well known in the art.

Means for supporting a slice or slices of bread may include a bread carrier 41, one of which is positioned between each pair of heating elements 3! and is movable vertically therebetween. Normally the bread carrier 41 is yieldingly biased to its upper or non-toasting position shown in the full lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings. This biasing is obtained by a tension spring 49 havinto and are held by the base plate 25 while v their upper ends may be held by interfitting engagement with the forward end portions of frame plates 31 and with a bar 52 extending between the forward end portions of the frame plates.

A carriage 53 is slidably mounted on the two standards 5I and is provided with a forwardly extending projection. 55 which latter extends outwardly beyond the front wall of the casing 21 and has mounted thereon an actuating knob 51 whereby an operator may press on the knob and move the bread carrier downwardly into toasting position wheree a slice of bread placed thereon will be positioned within the toastin chamber and subjectover all of its two side areas to radiant heat from the electric heating elements.

Means for determining the duration of a toasting operation, this means embodying more particularly my invention, will now be described. A bracket 59 has its fiat bottom portion 60 secured to the base plate 25 by one or more short machine screws BI and includes a long arm 63 extending vertically upwardly, a projection 55 extending laterallyof the upper end of arm 63' as will be seen more particularly in Fig. 4 of the drawings. A thermo-fiexible bar 61 has its upper end suitably secured to the projection 55 and. depends therefrom. A small cylindrical metal piece 69 is secured to the bimetal bar so that this member may engage means to be actuated by the free movable end of the bimetal bar -61. Anauxiliary electric heater H is mounted on the bimetal bar 61, electric insulating material 13 being provided therebetween to suitably'insulate the smallheater H from the bimetal bar 61. A small block 15 of electric insulating material is mounted on the upper end of arm 63 to receive terminal members 11 having leads connected to the ends of the auxiliary heating element H,

A pivotally mounted detent 19 is mounted on a vertically extending part 8| of bracket 59 and has turning movement on its pivot pin 83. Nor mally the detent arm 19 isyieldingly biased in a clockwise direction by a small spring 85. The bread carrier has secured thereto a rod 81 (see 13) having a roller 89 rotatably mounted thereon adjacent its outer end, the roller 89 being adapted to engage with an inclined surface.

9I of the detent lever 19 which is normally in the position shown particularly in Fig. 1 of the drawings. Downward pressure on the roller 89 against the surface 9I causes turning movement .of the detent lever 19 in a counter-clockwise direction until the outer end of the longer arm 93 engages under a detent-holding member 95 fixedly mounted on a shaft 91 and biased in a v clockwise direction against a stub 99 by a spring I III. When the operator removes his pressure from the knob 51 after he has moved it downwardly so that roller 89 has moved into engagement with the detent lever 19 and has caused it to turn in a counter-clockwise direction, the arcuate end I03 of detent lever 19 will fit over the roller 89 and the bread carrier will be held in its lowered toasting position.

The carriage 53 has secured thereto a laterally projecting bar I05 which has mountedthereon a contact bridging member I01 spring-biased downwardly by a small coil spring I99, encircling a headed pin IIII, a block of electric insulating material III being provided to suitably insulate the bridging member I91 from the other mechanical elements of its support. A pair of fixed contact members II3 are mounted on a block II5. of electric insulating material mounted on top of the base plate 25 in such a position as to be engageable by the contact bridging member I01 when the carriage 53 has been moved downwardly to bring the'bread carrier into toasting position. The contact members II3 are connected in the electrical circuit of the toaster as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, and it will be evident from this diagram of connections that when an operator hasmoved the knob 51 down and the roller 89 is held by the detent lever arm 19 so that the carrier is in toasting position, the main heating elements 3I and the auxiliary heating element 1I will be energized. It is to be noted that while the auxiliary heating element H is electrically connected to a short-circuiting switch, this switch is held open at this time.

The energization of the auxiliary heater 1I causes heating and flexing of the thermo-flexible bar 61 in a clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 3 of the drawings, until the "end member 69 on the thermo-fiexible bar 61 engages the upper end of an arm H1. The arm II1 constitutes the upper end of a slidable plate Il9, which plate supports a smaller plate 129 slidable relatively thereto. Plate I20 has secured thereto a pair of spaced pins I2I, which are held thereon by enlarged heads I22 and .vhich move in a slot I23 in member 8|. One of these pins I2I, namely the left-hand one, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3 for instance, is adapted to engage the holding arm which normally retains the detent lever arm 19 in its carrier-holding or carrier-retaining position. When the plate II9 has been moved sufliciently to the left (as shown in Fig. 3), the pin I2I having engaged holder 95 and moved the same out of detent-holding position, the detent arm 19 would be free to turn in a clockwise direction but is prevented from doing so by a roller I25 mounted on the plate H9 in position to engage a rounded surface I21 on detent arm 19 and hold the detent arm in its carrier-locking position substantially as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. It may be noted that Fig, 2 of the drawings shows the position of the parts when the carriage is in toasting position and the thermo-flexible bar 61 is cold and Fig. 3 shows the positions of these parts when the thermoflexible bar 61 has been heated to a predetermined temperature.

The shaft 91 has the holding means 95 fixedly mounted thereon at its forward end and has fixedly mounted thereon at its rear end a second arm I29. The shaft 91 is rotatably supported in parts of the bracket 59. Two contact members I3I are insulatedly mounted on a lefthand extension I33 of the bracket 59 and these contactmembers are connected to the ends of the auxiliary heater H, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 6 of the drawings. The carriage 53 has mounted thereon a contact bridging member I35 normally yieldingly biased downwardly by a coil spring I31. The contact bridging member I35 may move upwardly relatively to its supporting bracket I39 secured to carriage 53 and for this purpose an upper plate I connected 2,262,985 with the insulatedly supported bridging member I35 extends slightly to the right (as seen in Fig. 4 so that when carriage 53 is in its downward position, plate I will engage the upper end of arm I29 aslong as the arm I29 is in its initial position to which it is biased by the spring iI acting on the arm 95. When arm 95 is turned by pin I2I. as has hereinbefore been described, arm I29 will be moved out of engagement with plate I and the contact bridging member I35 which was up to that time out of engagement with the contacts I3I, will move into engagement therewith. to thereby deenergize the heater H by short-circuiting the same, but the construction of these parts is such that I29 will move out of engagement with plate I4I, a little time after arm 95 is moved out of engagement with detent 19, to ensure sufficient heating and flexing of the bimetal bar 61 to cause disengagement of arm I29 from plate I4I after release of the holding member 95 from the detent 19. This is to ensure that detent 19 will be released before bimetal bar 61 is allowedto start to cool.

The thermo-flexible bar 61 which has reached substantially the position shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, will new cool and flex in a counterclockwise direction as seen in Fig. 3, and the plate II 9 will be free to move in a right-hand direction (as seen in Fig. 3), the force or pull of the biasing spring 49 acting upon the lever arm 19 through the roller 89 being transmitted through the long arm of the detent lever to the roller I25 and through the plate H9 and the arm II1 to the movable end of the thermo-flexible bar 61. It is therefore obvious that the pull of the biasing spring tending to return the carrier to its non-toasting position will be transmitted through the detent lever arm to the movable end of the bimetal bar assisting it in moving or flexing in a given direction during cooling, toward its initial cold position so that no work will be done by the bimetal bar 61 against any mechanical element to effect release of the detent, this of course referring solely to its operation while cooling. On the contrary, the spring 49 tends to cause turning of the detent 19, which turning is opposed by the cooling thermo-flexible bar until at a given time the arcuate portion I03 of the detent will have turned enough relatively to the roller 89 so that the roller 89 is free to move upwardly out of engagement with th portion I03, whereby the carrier is returned to nontoasting position.

Means for varying the position of a pin I2I relatively to plate H9 and to the detent holding arm 95 include a tubular cylindrical member I43 which is slidably mounted on a manually adjustable shaft I 45. Shaft I45 is rotatably supported at one end by a bracket I46 integral with or secured to member BI. Longitudinal movement of shaft I45 relatively to member 8| is prevented by an enlarged head thereon at one side of bracket I46 and by a cotter pin extending through the shaft at the other side of bracket I46. The other end of shaft I45 is supported by two spaced brackets which are mounted on or are a part of plate II9. mounted thereon outside of the casing 21. Member I43 is provided with an arcuate slot I49 therein which is adapted toreceive a pin I5I which is secured to plate I20 to which the two pins I 2I are secured. Turning movement of shaft I45 by knob I41 therefore will shift the position of plate I20 and the pins I2I, one of which pins is adapted to engage holding arm 95 as has Shaft I45 is adjustable by a knob I41- hereinbefore been set forth. It is thus evident that it is possible to vary the duration of the time during which the thermo-flexible bar is heated and the time required for it to cool and flex enough to cause releasing movement of holding arm out of engagement with the detent lever arm 19.

It is evident that if member I43 and associated parts are in the positions shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings (the Dark position), the thermoflexible bar 61 must be heated a relatively long time and flex through a relatively long distance before a pin I2I will engage and move detentholding arm 95 away from detent arm 19. Roller I25 will therefore be positioned closely adjacent to the arcuate surface I21 of detent 19 and a relatively small turning movement, if any, of detent arm 19 will occur when detent holder 95 is disengaged therefrom, as above described. A relatively large degree of cooling of the bar 61 and flexing thereof will therefore be necessary before detent arm 19 will have turned enough to release roller 89 therefrom with return of the bread carrier to non-toasting position and opening of the circuits in the toaster. If, however, member I43 and the parts associated with it are in the positions shown in Fig. 10 (the Light" position), the thermo-fiexible bar 61 need not be heated to as high a temperature and need not flex as much to cause a pin I2I to engage arm 95 from the detent 19. The detent 19 may then turn slightly in a clockwise-direction (as seen in Fig. 3) and engage roller I25, since roller I25 was not close to the arcuate surface I21 of detent arm 19 when holding arm 95 was disengaged from detent 19. A lesser degree of cooling of the bar 61 and a smaller degree of flexing of the bar and movement of the roller I25 is necessary to cause disengagement of the roller 89 from the detent arm and return of the bread carrier to non-toasting position.

It may be here pointed out by reference to Figs. 8 to 11 inclusive, that the positions of the movable parts of the detent-releasing mechanism hereinbefore described are shown in their two limiting positions. It will be noted that Figs. 8 and 9 show member I43 is in a position to obtain the longest duration of a toasting operation and therefore dark toast, while Figs. 10 and 11 show the parts when they'are in position calling for a light degree of toasting, the letters D" and "L? being understood to refer to Dark and Light.

My invention provides also relatively simple means for causing horizontal movement of the slice or slices of bread being toasted to prevent shadows of the guard wires 45 from appearing on the toasted slices of bread. This means includes a movable top plate I51 on each of the bread carriers 41, the forward ends of which are connected to a bar I59 bent to channel shape. Member I59 has secured thereto a depending bar I6I to which is secured one end of a biasing spring I63, the other end of which is secured to a lug I65 which may be a part of or be secured to arm 55.

A depending lever arm I66 is pivotally mounted onthe upwardly extending portion 63 of bracket 59 and has at its lower end a horizontally extending portion I61 to the outer end of which is secured a short upwardly extending arm I69 having a cam surface I1I at its inner face, as shown more particularly in Fig. 5 of the drawings. The cam surface "I is normally held in substantially the position shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings by a. pin I13 engaging arm I516, this pin being secured to the end of one arm of a bell crank lever I15 pivotally mounted on a fixed member I59 will engage cam surface Ill, whereby auxiliary bread carrier plate I51 is moved toward the left, as seen in Fig. 5 of the drawings, and when arm I29 is permitted to turn in a clockwise direction, as hereinbefore described, bell crank lever I15 may turn in a clockwise direction, being urged thereto by spring I63, which at the same time causes movement in a righthand direction of auxiliary carrier plate I51, whereby the bread slices are moved horizontally relatively to the guard wires to prevent shadows thereof appearing on'a toasted slice of bread.

The device particularly embodying my invention thus provides a relatively simple and highly effective means controlled by a thermo-flexible bimetallic bar operating on the heat-up cool-oil? aaeaaas cycle to control the duration of a toasting operation. It is again pointed out that the thermo-flexible bar does not effect any mechanical work while cooling and finally releasing the bread carrier detent but that the biasing means for returning the bread carrier to its non-toasting position provides the necessary force and assists the bimetallic element in its flexing incldent to its cooling.

While I have illustrated and described a specific device embodying my invention, I do not desire to be limited thereto and all modifications coming clearly within the scope of theappended claim are to be considered as being covered thereby.

I claim as my invention:

In an automatic electric toaster comprising a heating means, a bread carrier movable into toasting and non-toasting positions relatively to said heating means, guard wires between the heating means and the carrier, a timing device for determining the duration of a toasting operation and means actuable by the timing device to cause movement of the bread relative to the carrier during a' toasting operation to prevent the occurrence of guard wire shadows onthe toasted surface or a slice of bread.

, MURRAY IRELAND. 

